A Story Of Pure Hearts
by Airezi
Summary: A story about the Care Bear Cubs when they first arrive in Carealot, and the real reason that True Heart and Noble Heart split up the cubs and cousins.
1. Our First Night in Care a Lot

Disclaimer: I don't own the care bears, all rights and belong to their respective owners. I do however claim credit for both Pure Heart Bear and Lost Heart Leopard so please don't 'borrow' them without asking permission.

**A Story of Pure Hearts**

Ch. 1-Our First Night in Care-a-lot

_I'm Lost. No, I don't mean that I don't know where I am, what I mean is that my name is Lost. Lost Heart Leopard actually, and I'm one of the care bear cousins. (though I'm sure you've never heard of me) I don't go on caring missions, so I kind of miss out on the fame. It's not that I don't want to help people, I'm just…I'm too scared to do it. After what happened…I don't think I can ever be a real care bear cousin. Everyone knows how True Heart and Noble Heart split up the cubs and cousins. They said it was to protect them from Dark Heart, but that wasn't all of it. And the story behind them splitting up the care bear family is the reason I never leave the forest of feelings. It isn't exactly a happy tale, but it's a part of our history that shouldn't be forgotten. So here is the story of the care bears beginning, of us cubs and what truly shaped us into the care bear family we are now---it is a story of pure hearts._

Sparkling red, blue, yellow and green in the darkening night sky, the snapping fireworks roused happy oohs and ahhs from the young care bear cubs and cousins. Their multi-colored fur created a rainbow on the clouds more colorful than the light display in the sky; soft reds, pales pinks sitting amongst bright yellows and splashes of blue with every other color of the rainbow in between.

True Heart smiled tenderly at them as she shot another sparkle into the air. Mouths open in awe the cubs eyes followed its flight upward, a few gasping or laughing when it exploded into a golden shower of sparks. She was so glad that the chase with Dark Heart hadn't left them upset; all of the cubs had been excited to get off the ship and explore their new cloud home. Yet the day's events had taken a toll on the babies, a few had fallen asleep as they sat watching the fireworks, curled up next to one another on the billowy clouds. Catching Noble Hearts eye True began to gather the sleeping cubs and cousins while he shot one last light skyward for the few youngsters still awake. True Heart gently picked up a small pink cub smiling when she saw the two hearts that made up her new tummy symbol.

"How perfect for you," she whispered quietly, cradling the cub in her arms. The little girl was all heart; she loved everyone and everything with no strings attached. Two purple cubs sat sleepily nearby, True scooped up the darker one who now had a large red heart flanked by two small pink ones one her tummy, Wondering if all the cubs were going to end up with some type of heart tummy symbol True settled the tired cub piggyback style picked up the lighter colored one. Then she slowly started up the small cloud hill, encouraging those cubs still awake to follow her.

"Come on little ones," she said gently, pausing a moment to wait for a yawning penguin and a gold cub who was rubbing his eyes sleepily to get up and follow her. Nearby, she saw Noble Heart carrying a sleeping lamb and lion balanced in one arm, gently pulling a bright yellow cub to his feet. Resuming her gathering of the cubs and cousins True Heart soon had more than a dozen on their tired feet and shuffling toward the building.

"Oh how perfect!" she exclaimed as she entered. Dozens of cribs formed from clouds surrounded the entryway, each with a different picture on the heart headboards. The cream colored bear spotted the cribs for the two purple cubs, immediately depositing them into the soft beds and tucking in the blankets. Next she dropped the pink cub off in her crib, also grabbing a yellow orange cub with a cupcake on his white stomach that was nearby. Quickly but tenderly she settled the other cubs and cousins in their beds while Noble Heart went back to the river to collect the remaining babies.

"That should be all of them," he said when he returned, a blue puppy and tan kitten nestled in his arms.

Nodding True Heart bent down to pick up the elephant trailing behind Noble Heart, whispering, "Bedtime sweetheart," as she settled him into his crib. Noble Heart put the puppy and kitten into their beds, and then snagged one of the cousins still awake and wandering around.

"You little rascal!" he teased the baby monkey, who had tried to sneak down the aisles between the cribs. "Never want to stop playing do you?" he tickled the youngster, making him laugh before laying him down for bed. Meanwhile True Heart cornered the last awake and wandering cub, a raccoon with a light bulb heart on his stomach.

"Bedtime." She told him firmly, lifting and carrying him over to a crib. Obediently he closed his eyes, but she could almost see the gears still turning in his little mind. He was a good baby, they all were really and a good thing too. If they hadn't been there was no way she and Noble Heart would have been able to handle them all on their own. Turning around she saw Noble Heart finish putting a teal cub into a crib, leaving just two more to be put to bed. The last cub sat sleepily on the floor, waiting patiently, and she held up her arms to be picked up as True approached.

"Tired little one?" the care bear asked sympathetically, cradling the black cub against her shoulder.

"These two would be the last ones wouldn't they?" came Noble Hearts remark as he joined her and picked up the last cousin, a tan leopard cub with dark brown spots.

"I think it's sweet how she always waits for him," True remarked, talking about the dozing cub she held. "He'll be playing in a corner all by himself when the others get up to leave, but she always makes sure that they don't leave him behind." True Heart paused, looking a bit concerned at the spotted cub sleeping in Noble Hearts purple arms. "I worry about him sometimes Noble Heart, he just seems so…so out of place around the other cubs. I mean they all seem to like him, but he just doesn't know how to act in the group. He always looks so lost when they're all together."

"Lost?" Noble Heart half stated, half asked. "Yeah, you're right True, he does seem lost sometimes. A little lost heart…" He muttered the last sentence almost indistinctly, tracing the outside of the cubs tummy symbol mindlessly. Interested, True peered closely at the leopards symbol for the first time,

"Lost Heart?…it does fit…" she said slowly

"Hmm?" Noble looked at her questioningly.

"Lost Heart Leopard, that's what we'll call him." True Heart bear stated as she shifted the cub she held to the other shoulder. Blinking in slight confusion Noble Heart looked down, his eyes widening in surprise as he actually looked at the cubs symbol.

"It's a map!" He said in surprise. And sure enough, on the cubs' stomach was a heart shaped map. The map heart was missing bits from its edges as though it were worn and ripped. A dotted line wandered between black outlined hills and mountain and jumped over a blue river at the bottom. However, at the end of the trail wasn't an X to mark the spot, but instead a question mark filled the top left of the map.

"Lost Heart Leopard." Noble Heart echoed True's words. "It does fit him…but it seems like such a sad name True!" He looked at her, the concern in his eyes matching hers from earlier.

"I know," True Heart sighed, continuing to look at the symbol on the cub now sleeping in Noble Heart's arms. "But being lost isn't necessarily a bad thing. I mean we were lost when we found the cubs." She reminded him, smiling at the memory.

"Yeah, you're right." Noble Heart agreed, but with a bit of uncertainty on his face. Then he suddenly grinned and met True Hearts eyes, laughing. "Oh man True, do you realize what we've gotten ourselves into? We've got who knows how many people on earth that we're supposed to be helping learn how to care and teach others too as well, all in between raising over two dozen cubs who we need to protect from Dark Heart because they can barely walk, and we haven't even had a chance to name them yet!"

For a moment True Heart looked taken aback by Noble Heart's outburst, then both the bear and horse broke down laughing. For nearly a minute both laughed hard, almost bringing tears to their eyes and it wasn't until the cubs they were holding began to wake that they were able to calm down.

"Well considering we have all of that to do we had better go to bed!" True finally managed to say. Noble Heart smiled in agreement and both walked over to the last two empty cribs. Lost Heart Leopard never woke up as Noble Heart tucked him in, but True Heart was still holding the black cub and staring around the room when Noble Heart looked up.

"They're all so innocent and pure right now Noble Heart. We can never let Dark Heart touch them!" True's fierce tone surprised the horse and he looked in amazement at her usually happy and gentle face. Her eyes were icy and her face was set in a look of determination.

"We won't." Noble Heart assured her, rubbing the head of the cub resting on her shoulder affectionately. "Nothing will happen to these guys." Nodding, True Heart supported the cubs' head as she laid her in the cloud crib.

"I want to name her Pure Heart." True said still in a protective mood. "She really is one—and I want her to stay that way." Again Noble Heart was surprised by True Hearts firm tone, but after all they had gone through with the cubs he understood her concern. The purple horse looked down at the cub as she was tucked in. She had the darkest fur of all the youngsters; soft gentle black that framed her now closed dark blue eyes. On her white stomach, a new tummy symbol made up of a heart, black and faceted like a diamond, almost glowed with its simple, pure shape.

"Of course, I think she'll like it too." Noble Heart squeezed True Hearts shoulders in a one-arm hug, happy with the grateful glance she shot him in return. "But come on now, there's no way I can stay awake long enough to name ALL of these guys."

True Heart laughed, "Yeah I suppose. All right, let's go find our own beds." The two strode side by side to a hallway off one side of the hall, glancing back one more time at the precious, sleeping cubs before flicking out the lights.


	2. Our First Real Caring Mission

Ch. 2- Our First Real Caring Mission

_I've already told you that this is a story of pure hearts, and after my last chapter most of you must be thinking that I'm talking about Pure Heart, the little cub True Heart named. But even though Pure Heart is my best friend, I have to remind you that the hearts of the other cubs and cousins are just as pure, and this is a story of all of us. Because what happened changed us all._

True Heart and Noble Heart quickly settled into the routine of Care-a-lot, and the world below. One of them staying behind to watch the young cubs while the others went down to help those on earth that needed it. The babies would cause no end of trouble for whoever was looking after them, but all in innocence and fun. Proud Heart Cat and Playful Heart monkey were notorious for playing keep away in the trees when anyone tried to catch them for nap time. Share Bear commonly got caught red handed sharing treats she liberated from the kitchen with the other cubs and birds of care-a-lot, while Cheer Bear's favorite play spot was the billowy cloud cars.

But it was Swift Heart Rabbit that started the biggest mischief of all. The blue bunny snuck down to earth with True Heart on the first caring mission, and soon after it was almost impossible for True or Noble to leave without at least one or two cubs trying to sneak down to earth.

"No Love-a-lot, you need to stay here!" True Heart said firmly, lifting the bright pink cub out from her hiding spot in the back of the cloud car. "You too tenderheart," the care bear ordered when she saw a brown foot poking out from under the seat. Abashed, the cub crawled out, looking imploringly up at True Heart.

"Come on mister," Noble Heart said as he appeared, scooping up Tender Heart. "Figure out what's going on this time down there?" He asked True Heart, relieving her of Love-a-lot so the cream colored Bear could leave for earth.

"Just looked like a misunderstanding between some friends, should be a pretty quick mission."

"Why don't you bring one of the cubs with?"

"What?" True Heart gasped in surprise at Noble Heart's suggestion.

"Why not?" The horse said as he shifted the two squirming cubs in his arms. "Com on True, that's the main reason we're raising these cubs, to have them learn how to help people care and share their feelings. And they want to go," he laughed, grinning at the two wanna be stowaways he held. "Why not let them start helping now? They're good babies, and if you only bring one or two they won't be hard to manage."

"Plus it will give you one less to baby-sit," giggled the bear, thinking for a moment about Noble Hearts suggestion. But her thought path was broken as a few of the cubs and cousins ran by, chasing a star buddy.

"Down pwease!" Tender Heart asked-demanded Noble Heart, who obediently set him and Love-a-lot down on the clouds, where they immediately raced after their playmates. Silently Noble and True watched the cubs for a minute, Cozy Heart Penguin had caught up to the star buddy, who perched happily on her shoulder until the other cubs caught up. Wish Bear and Harmony got there first, laughing as the yellow star zipped around their heads, tickling their ears. Pure Heart toddled up, paws out for the flying star to land in. But before the star buddy could reach her the small black cub was knocked face first into the clouds as poor, clumsy Lots-a-Heart tripped over his own feet and plowed into her.

Instinctively True started to rush over, ready to comfort the tears and sobs she knew were coming. "Just wait a minute," Noble Heart whispered, stopping her with a gentle paw on the shoulder.

It took not even a second for the tears to start welling up in Pure Hearts clear blue eyes as she lay on her stomach in the billowy clouds, mouth opening in expectation of a wailing cry. But before her cry could escape Lots-a-Heart's anxious and apologetic voice broke the silence. "I 'torry Puur," the young elephant spoke with such sincere regret and embarrassment that it turned Pure Heart's would be wail into a muffled sniff.

"You o'tay?" Wish Bear asked, gently helping Pure Heart to her feet while Harmony and Cozy Heart helped Lots-a-Heart up.

"I'm 'torry," Lots-a-Heart repeated, still unable to get the s sound out of his young mouth. Pure Heart wiped away her leaking tears just as Tender Heart and Love-a-lot caught up to the colorful group.

"It's o'tay," the littlest cub replied sincerely, then the tears vanished and a grin broke on Pure's face as she shouted "Let's go pway on the swide!" Grinning and giggling the group headed for the rainbow slides, but Lots-a-Heart shuffled after them, head down and dejected. Love-a-lot noticed the sad cousin out of the corner of her eye, stopped and waited for him to catch up.

"Didn't mean to knock her ober," the pink elephant sobbed quietly.

"Not your fawlt," the pink cub comforted her playmate. She hugged him and led Lots-a-Heart by the hand toward the playground, a smile coming back to his face.

A breath of air brought True and Noble back to themselves, reality slowly breaking through the sweetness of the cubs tender display of caring.

"I think you're wrong Noble Heart, I don't think we need to teach them about caring at all." True looked over at her partner and they both grinned.

"Well this is the place, now where are those two boys?" True Heart looked around as she lifted Lost Heart Leopard out of the cloud car that poofed out of existence. Curious the yellow colored leopard also peered around from the safety of his guardians' arms. True Heart had agreed with Noble Heart that they should start bringing the cubs on caring missions, and Lost Heart had been the lucky one to be chosen.

"Ahh!" the baby leopard exclaimed, pointing with a paw toward a tree. Underneath sat a young boy in jeans and a t-shirt, looking lonely as he traced the dirt at his feet with a stick.

"Good spotting little one," True said to Lost Heart, giving him a little squeeze of thanks. Confidently the bear walked up to the little boy, startling him a bit as she walked up and introduced herself. "Hi there, my name's True Heart, and this is Lost Heart Leopard."

The boy looked at her for a moment, his face a bit unsure as he peered at her from under his sandy colored bangs. "I'm Ben," he finally said, then obviously curious but trying not to be rude he asked, "What are you?"

True Heart laughed a bit, she had gotten that question so many times when she first came to earth, "I'm a Care Bear, I've come to help you. Mind if I sit down?" The boy nodded and True Heart set Lost Heart down on the soft grass in front of her as she sat down next to Ben. She continued talking, explaining to Ben what the Care Bears were all about. "We live up in Care-a-lot and whenever people are having trouble down on earth caring and such we come down to help. We just want to teach people how to share their feelings and care about each other."

"Oh," the boy responded, eyes wandering to Lost Heart Leopard who was gently touching the flowers growing in front of him, amazement on his young face. "But I don't think I need any help."

"Maybe you don't NEED it," True Heart told him, "but I would like to help you anyway, and maybe be your friend too." The bear smiled warmly at the young boy, whose face brightened up too.

"I think I'd like that, you seem really nice." Suddenly Ben's smile clouded over though, and he went back to fiddling in the dirt with his stick. After a moment of silence he mumbled quietly to True Heart, "But I've already got a friend…or at least I thought so."

"You can have more than one friend," the care bear said gently. "But what do you mean by 'you thought so?'"

"I don't really want to talk about it." The boy said, scratching away at the dirt. True Heart just let him sit for minute, silently watching the clouds float by. Lost Heart Leopard gently plucked a purple clover and offered it to True, who smiled but shook her head no. The cub offered the flower to Ben, who gave a small smile as he put it too his nose to smell. "It's very pretty, Lost Heart." The boy told the cub, "Want me to show you a trick?" Eagerly the leopard nodded vigorously, and the boy showed him how to pull up the purpled petals and suck on the ends to taste the sweet nectar. Lost Heart copied his new friend, but quickly got frustrated when his unwieldy paws rewarded him with only one or two petals at a time. Pouting slightly, the baby handed the rest of the flower over to Ben, then wandered away to play by some bushes.

"I can't make anyone happy today," Ben muttered, more to himself than True, though the care bear heard him easily.

"No one can understand what's wrong if you don't tell them." True Heart told him. Ben sighed, and though for a moment before answering.

"I just got in a fight with my best friend Chad." He finally said, not looking True in the eye. "All I did was ask if he wanted to come over and play again today after school, and when he said no I got really upset."

"Again?" True questioned, "Did you guys just play together a while ago?"

"Yeah, we played explorers yesterday, it was awesome!" For a moment Ben was his smiling self again, but the smile slowly drooped as he continued. "I thought it would be fun to play that again today where we left off, but Chad said that he didn't want to play."

"Well maybe he just needed some time to be alone." The care bear said truthfully, "Look at Lost Heart. He likes to play with people, but he also likes just being on his own like now." Here True Heart paused to check on the cub, who was blissfully unaware that he was being used as an example and continued his search in the bushes.

"Maybe," Ben said thoughtfully as though the concept hadn't occurred to him before. "I really hate playing by myself."

"Can I ask you a question Ben?" When the boy nodded, True Heart continued, "Is Chad an only child, does he have any brothers or sisters?"

"No, he doesn't. It's just him."

"Well he's probably a lot more used to playing by himself than you are. He may even like to. It doesn't mean that he isn't your friend, but friends don't always have to be together."

"I guess you're right." Ben said, understanding, but still a little bit sad.

"Twue! Twue!" Lost Heart yelped from the edge of the yard. "Lookie, lookie!" The little cub bounced up and down in excitement as the care bear and boy headed over. The leopard pointed to the underside of the leaf and with amazement the three watched as a butterfly struggled its way out of a chrysalis.

"Wow!" Ben breathed as it freed its last wing and crawled to the top of the leaf to dry in the sun. "Good find Lost Heart," he told the cub and True patted the baby proudly on the head, causing the cub to giggle with happiness.

"I see what you mean True Heart," Ben said after a second. "If I had been with Lost Heart there's no way he would have found this, we would have been too busy playing to see it." The sandy hair boy looked in wonder at the new butterfly for a moment before continuing slowly, "I'm going to call Chad and say I'm sorry for saying he wasn't my friend just because he didn't want to play with me."

"That's a great idea Ben." The care bear agreed firmly, as the butterfly fluttered its wings and went airborne for the first time, flitting away on the breeze into the blue and sunny sky.


	3. Our First Encounter with Dark Heart

Ch. 3 Our First Encounter with Dark Heart

_All right, I think I've given you a good idea of what life was like for a us cubs growing up now. We spent our days in carefree play up in care-a-lot or if we were lucky going to earth on caring missions. All of us cubs got along, but Pure Heart was my best friend, the other cubs just didn't seem to understand my silent and solitary ways. But enough of that, it's time to actually tell you about the events that shaped the care bear family._

"Ok, who's coming with this time?" True Heart called over the rainbow colored playground of care-a-lot.

"Ooh! Me please, me please!" a chorus of pleas broke out as the cubs and cousins raced over to her.

"No Good Luck, you just went on a mission, it's someone else's turn." True told the bright green cub who immediately set his face in a small pout. Only a few weeks had passed since the care bears very first mission but the young cubs and cousins were growing swiftly. Already the once babies were verging on kindergarten age, speaking and understanding better each day. True Heart ignored Good Luck bears pout, and looked into the mass of colorful faces to choose which cubs would join her on the mission to earth.

"Ok, how about Share Bear, Friend Bear, Pure Heart…hmm Proud Heart you can come too, and one more…." True Heart looked back into the excited crowd of cubs again, spotting the only one who wasn't smiling. "And Grumpy Bear," She said with a decisive grin, laughing to herself at the blue cubs shock. "Hop in the cloud car, let's go."

"Taking a lot of them off my hands today aren't you?" Noble Heart smiled as he returned from giving Lost Heart Leopard a bath after the cub had spilled maple syrup on himself at breakfast.

"Well these kids are having problems dealing with a big family, I figured the cubs could help show them how much fun it can be. Are we all unstickified now?" She laughed at Lost Heart, rubbing the leopard cubs head affectionately. "We'll be back in a little bit Noble Heart."

"Have fun guys!" Noble Heart called and Lost Heart and Pure heart waved bye to each other while True Heart checked that the cubs were all buckled in and then aimed the cloud car earthward.

"Are we there yet?" Grumpy bear asked crossly from the back seat.

"Yes Mr. Impatient, we're here." True rolled her eyes in good humor. Grumpy Bear may have seemed like a bad choice for this mission, but she had a feeling he would be a big help. Curiously the bear looked around as the cubs tumbled out of the car, searching for the object of their caring mission.

"What are we looking for?" Share Bear asked looking up at True Heart, dark eyes curious amid her purple fur.

"Two kids, they should be right around the park here." True told her, shading her eyes with a paw as she scanned the empty playground, gaze gliding over the empty swings and merry go round.

"There they are!" Friend Bear pointed a furry orange paw, bringing to everyone's notice the boy and girl under the monkey bars, half hidden behind the slide. Without hesitation True Heart strode over, the five cubs following dutifully in her wake. Coming around the yellow plastic of the tube slide True Heart caught sight of the children's glum faces and knew that she was in the right place. Quickly she swallowed the last of her nerves and stepped forward to introduce herself.

"Hello, how are you guys today?" There was silence for a moment as the kids stared in surprise at True Heart.

"Umm fine…" the boys finally stammered out, pushing his sandy brown hair back with his fingers trying to get a good look at True Heart.

"Oh cute!" the girl with braided black hair exclaimed, spotting the cubs. Hesitating a moment she jumped off the wiring of the playground equipment, cautiously extending a hand. "My name's Sammie, and this is my brother Luke."

True Heart shook the hand in greeting then introduced herself, "My name is True Heart these little guys are Pure Heart, Friend Bear, Share Bear, Proud Heart Cat and….Grumpy come out and say hi!" The elder bear scolded the blue cub, stepping aside so he couldn't hide behind her.

"We're care bears!" Share bear exclaimed happily, and the purple cub threw her arms up in excitement.

Giggling Sammie knelt down and shook the smiling cubs paw, but her brother looked on skeptically. "What exactly's a care bear?" Luke questioned, meeting True Hearts eyes suspiciously. True Heart quickly explained about the care bear mission to spread caring around the world, but when she tried to address what was bothering the kids they both got extremely quiet.

Finally Sammie spoke up, "Our mother's getting remarried."

"To some guy with 6 kids!" Luke broke in mouth set in anger. "Apparently she's tired of us!" True Heart was startled by the venom in Luke's outburst, apparently he was far more upset than she had anticipated. Quickly the care bear tried to remedy the situation.

"I'm sure that's not the reason at all Luke!"

"Yeah right, she's always spending time with them! Plus she thinks they're so awesome, she's so happy when they come home with C's on their report cards and stuff." From the young boys tone True Heart guessed that he didn't find that an accomplishment worthy of praise.

"Luke!" Sammie gasped, as surprised as True Heart by her brothers attitude. Flushing red the younger boy shut his mouth, while his sister took the opportunity to explain more to the confused care bear. "The guy our mom's been dating takes care of foster kids," she said. "She just told us today that they're planning on getting married." With a sigh Sammie leaned back against the platform of the playground equipment, her face uncertain while True Heart waited for the young girl to continue. "I've had fun getting to know all the kids, and one of the girls and I are getting to be good friends but…." Her voice trailed off and the only sounds were the bored cubs scrapping the gravel into pyramid shaped castles.

"It's been just you two and your mom for a long time hasn't it?" True Heart asked sympathetically, walking over and sitting on the mesh stairs by the kids. Luke and Sammie both nodded, and the bear felt encouraged to continue, "So you're worried about getting lost with all those kids around, and I'll bet they need a lot of extra attention if they're foster kids too."

"Yeah," Sammie responded, looking at her brother for confirmation, both of their faces subdued.

"But what's so bad about having lots of siblings?" Friend bear surprised everyone as he spoke. "I love having lots of friends to play with!"

"Me too!" Pure Heart and Proud Heart cat chorused, grinning at each other and standing paw in paw. True Heart smiled in pride at the cubs, they were doing exactly what she had hoped they would, and of their own initiative.

"It's not always great," Grumpy grumbled from where he sat in the sand.

"No, but I wouldn't trade it for anything!" Share Bear retorted, placing her hands on her hips in defiance.

"How many of you are there?" Luke asked curiously.

"I dunno…" Friend bear said, struggling to count on his paws. "1, 2, 3, 5, 6, 7, 9, 11, 15…."

"You forgot a few numbers sweetheart." True Heart told the orange cub gently, then turned back to the kids. "Noble Heart Horse and I are taking care of about two dozen cubs and cousins. They're all growing up together as one family."

"Wow!" Luke and Sammie said, mouths gaping.

True Heart smiled to herself sure now that the mission was going to be a success, and it was. The brother and sister played and talked with the five cubs for a little bit, slowly coming to terms with what it was like to live in such a big family. Happily the young cubs told the kids about how much fun they had always having friends to play with or help them with any problems. Even Grumpy bear helped, admitting gloomily that True Heart and Noble Heart always made special time for any cub who needed it. By the time the youngsters (human, bear and cat) had constructed an entire castle complex in the sand Sammie and Luke were feeling much better.

"This is really great guys!" Luke laughed out as Proud Heart cat added a drawbridge.

"I go get water for the moat!" Pure Heart stated, running off to the drinking fountain.

"Luke! Sam!" A chorus of voices started calling the kids names and Sammie jumped up to find their source.

"It's Brian and the other foster kids! Come on Luke." Following his sisters summons the younger boy got to his feet then turned to True Heart.

"Thank you." He said sincerely, and Sammie quickly repeated the phrase before both children raced over to greet their future family.

"We should get going," True Heart started to say as Sammie and Luke disappeared, but a crack of red light stopped her in mid-sentence.

"I don't think so!" Dark Heart laughed as the cubs screamed in fright. The care bears dreaded enemy stood before them as giant grizzly bear, eyes glowing red as they did in every form he took.

"Stay away!" True Heart commanded him, quickly shoving the cubs behind her for protection. Steeling herself True Heart closed her eyes and concentrated on what she and Noble Heart had taken to calling the care bear stare. They hadn't encountered Dark Heart since arriving in Care-a-lot but both felt the attack was just what they needed to keep his evil in check. The light of the stare shot from her tummy symbol and struck Dark Heart square in the chest, causing him to roar in pain.

"Get to the cloud car!" She yelled at the terrified cubs pushing them in the direction. They took off, almost tripping over each other in their haste. True Heart saw Dark Heart beginning to recover, blinking to clear his eyes of light from the stare. To stall him further she shot another stare, causing more roars of pain. Then the cream colored bear took up after the cubs, practically throwing a struggling Grumpy bear into the front seat as Share Bear and Friend Bear hauled Proud Heart Cat in after them. _Wait a minute_, a nagging thought of something missing made True Heart pause.

"Ha Ha Ha!" Dark Hearts gleeful laughter almost overshadowed a small cry that froze the care bear in her tracks.

"True!" The bear spun around and her heart plummeted. Dark heart had transformed again, into a saber tooth tiger this time, and Pure Heart was pinned under his paw. The cup of water she had painstakingly gone to get for the castle moat spilling onto the ground next to her.

"No…" True Heart gasped in a whisper. The small black cub was looking at her caretaker through crying eyes, pleading silently for rescue.

"She's mine." Dark Heart said in a cool voice, a smile over the huge canines of his cat form. Fiercely True stepped forward to Stare again, but just as quickly Dark Heart hooked Pure Heart with a claw and tossed her into the air. Taking advantage of True Hearts surprise at the action Dark Heart transformed into his tornado form, catching the black cub in the swirling winds and spinning away while True Heart watched helpless.

"I've got to go after him!" She said to herself, turning towards the cloud car to give chase. But then the bear saw the terrified faces of the other cubs. Proud Heart Cat and Share Bear were clutching at each other in fear while Friend Bear peeked over the edge of the cloud car with huge, frightened eyes. In the front seat Grumpy was huddled in a small ball, crying. True Heart realized there was no way she could go after Dark Heart with them.

"We're going home to get Noble Heart kids, it'll be ok." The older care bear told them, hiding the fear she was feeling. Silently they looked at her, Proud heart and Share loosened their hold on one another and Grumpy Bear uncurled from the fetal position. She gave the blue cub a quick hug as he wiped away the tears, then started up the cloud car, heading for care-a-lot.

_We have to get her back_, True Heart thought to herself as she sped towards the clouds, _I can't even think of what Dark heart wants with her_ Quickly the billowy vehicle disappeared into the sunny sky, leaving behind a sand castle city half destroyed by Dark Hearts tornado winds.

A/N- Sorry I took so long to update guys, I'll try to finish this story before I'm computerless for the summer. Don't forget to R&R please!


	4. Our First Rescue Mission

Ch. 4 Our First Rescue Mission

_This is the part of the story that I am not sure I can tell, because it theses events that truly made the care bear family the great force of caring that it is today—and scarred it at the same time._

The underground stone cavern Dark Heart resided in was cold and damp, water trickles meandering down the rough-hewn walls. In the center of the otherwise empty cavern was a black cauldron full of some bright yellow liquid, gently boiling over a small bed of glowing coals. A column shaped boulder stood next to the cauldron, it's top boasting a small depression where Pure Heart rested. The soft black cub was shivering with cold, her teeth chattering occasionally, though her eyes never opened and her limbs twitched sluggishly in an effort to warm up. Her arms were bound at the wrist to the stone with short metal shackles.

"Almost ready," Dark Heart in human form murmured as he looked into the yellow mixture, glancing over at the drugged cub with a smirk. "And then the power of that cute little tummy symbol of yours will be all mine." His smirk turned into an evil, toothy smile when the boiling potion sputtered and turned a deep red. "Perfect." The redhead rubbed his hands together in excitement. He stirred the thickening soup several times, then turned toward the bear cub.

"Time to wake up," he hissed, shooting a small spark out of his finger. With a squall of pain Pure Heart woke up, whimpering weakly as her body fought the drugs Dark Heart had given to subdue her. Feebly the cub tried to sit up. "Stay still!" Dark Heart commanded, striking at her with the metal rod he had stirred the potion with.

Instinctively Pure Heart tried to roll away from the blow, but the shackles held her in place and there was a sickening crunch as the rod connected with her shoulder. The cub cried out, and her ice blue eyes shot wide open in pain. Her small arm hung awkwardly at her side, obviously broken or dislocated from the blow of the rod. The black cub began to wail, too terrified and hurt to speak.

"Shut up!" Dark heart roared at her, raising his weapon threateningly again. With eyes that were wide in terror Pure Heart managed to bite back the tears, shaking and hiccupping with the effort. "Hmph, fragile little thing" Dark heart muttered to himself as he turned back to his concoction. Deftly the red head uncapped a small crystal vial from his pocket and emptied it into the mix. Silently the red mixture flashed into a deeper blood color, thickening so that is bubbled slowly and with a deeper tone.

"Perfect." Dark heart hissed greedily, snatching a silver goblet from the floor by the cauldron. Cautiously he dipped it into the blood red mixture, careful not to touch the burning liquid with unprotected fingers. Maliciously he grinned at the shaking black cub, offering her the cup, "Drink up!"

* * *

"It'll be ok True Heart, we'll get her back!" Noble Heart patted his partner on the back as True Heart sobbed into his shoulder. She had gotten back to care-a-lot only minutes before, rushing to find Noble Heart before even getting the cubs out of the cloud car. The purple horse had somehow managed to deduce what had happened from her sputtering between tears as True Heart had confronted him at the playground where he had been watching the cubs.

"But we'll have to figure out something quickly." Noble heart said anxiously, gently pushing True heart away, silently telling her to get a hold of herself. Nodding the care bear wiped away the tears on her cheeks and took a deep breath to calm down. Through bleary eyes she suddenly caught sight of Lost Heart standing just behind Noble Heart. The tan leopard cub was frozen, green eyes open wide and mouth parted slightly in a halted gasp.

"Oh Lost heart!" True took a step forward to console the cub, realizing that he was in shock from the prospect of loosing his best friend. But the young leopard snapped out of his daze and put his paws on hers to prevent the coming hug.

"No! We have to go get her! We have to help her!" he exclaimed frantically. "Now!" The cubs wide eyed pleas struck something in True's heart, giving her the strength to completely control her tears.

"We will Lost Heart, we'll get her back." The bear's voice was now full of confidence as she squeezed the small paws. Standing up the cream colored bear turned to face Noble heart, "Let's go."

"But what about the cubs? We can't bring them with us."

"We'll be ok." Lost heart chimed in.

"Yeah!" "We can look after ourselves" "Let us stay here!" echoed the other youngsters.

"We'll be good!" chorused Playful Heart monkey and Funshine bear, the most mischievous of the band. Unsure Noble Heart and True Heart exchanged glances, silently acknowledging that they had no other choice. Dark Heart was their only enemy, no one else would have the power to come and hurt the cubs. Though still young they were old enough to stay out of major trouble and keep an eye on each other as well.

"All right." Noble heart's voice boomed over the playground to reach all the cubs. "But I want all of you to stay in the hall of hearts. Let's go!" The horse clapped his hands together to emphasize the command, and began herding the cubs and cousins to the heart shaped building.

Meanwhile True Heart checked the four cubs who had gone to earth with her, making sure they were ok and recovering from the shock. Though Grumpy bear would only shake or nod , he and the others seemed to be recovering and she breathed a sigh of relief when they all joined in a game of jump rope some of the other cubs had moved inside.

Deftly she and Noble Heart reminded the cubs not to play with or on anything they weren't supposed to and keep an eye on each other. The little star and heart buddies had all gathered in the hall of hearts as well and the older care bears relaxed a bit upon seeing them..

"Ready?" Noble Heart asked from where he stood by the main door. True nodded as she surveyed the room one more time. Already the cubs had settled into smaller playgroups, some hauling down the board games from the shelves, a few paging through the picture books. A small smile appeared on her face when she saw playful heart monkey shaking his finger at Loyal Heart dog. Apparently the puppy had wanted to do some finger painting and the 'responsible' monkey didn't want him to make a mess. _They'll be just fine._ True thought turning to follow Noble Heart, but a small tug at her fur made her pause.

Staring up at his guardian with moist eyes Lost Heart Leopard simply said. "Please come back soon."

"We will, I promise." She said to him. Nodding the care bear cousin walked quietly away and True Heart and Noble Heart strode out of the Hall of Hearts, closing the door solidly behind them. The leaders of the care bear family hopped into the cloud car and headed towards Dark hearts black energy.

Unable to resist stealing one look back True Heart turned her head as they took off. The rainbow equipment of the playground lacked something without playing cubs swarming all over it, and the pure white of the cloud ground looked bleak without the splashes of color from their fur. Her eyes roved over the hall of hearts and in one of the front windows True Heart caught sight of Lost Heart Leopard, staring forlornly out, awaiting their return.

* * *

Back in Dark Hearts cave he had forced the weakened cub to gag down the brew (though her struggles had spilled almost as much as she drank), and was waiting impatiently for it to take effect. "Soon all that power of yours will be mine." The young boy gloated, grinning cruelly at Pure Heart as she lay on the cold, bare stone with eyes dizzy from the potion and earlier poison.

"Ahh!" Dark heart suddenly exclaimed. On the cubs white stomach, amid the red speckles of spilled potion, the cut crystal heart of her symbol had began to glow with a black light. Dark heart and Pure Heart both watched, entranced, as it slowly became 3 dimensional and lifted off the white fur. "Yes!" hissed the ecstatic villain, reaching for the floating crystal heart with eager fingers. As his hand touched it the edges of the cut crystal blurred into a gray mist and began to flow into the boys body. "Yes! This is what I needed! This power!" Amazed at its strength Dark Heart could only whisper while he watched, mesmerized, as the entire heart symbol turned to mist and flowed into his body. No longer did he wonder how the care bears could create something from nothing, and now that same power was his! "Even my shadow has power," the boy murmured to himself, seeing it morph itself into different shapes and move on its own.

As the last fragment of Pure hearts' tummy symbol flowed into Dark Hearts body the cub gave a quiet sigh and her eyes closed, body slumping limply into the dish of the stone. A slight flicker of concern crossed Dark Heart's face when he saw she wasn't breathing, but he quickly recovered. "Fine, I've gotten everything from you I wanted anyways."

"True! I found a passage!" Noble Hearts voice echoed faintly down to Dark heart and he flinched involuntarily.

_Damn it, of all the timing! _He thought. _I wanted to play around with this new power before facing those two…maybe I still can._ A malicious grin split his face, and eyes glinting with the prospect of fun lit Dark Heart's red eyes as he transformed into tornado form. He spent a second marveling at the power he felt still in this form thanks to Pure Hearts tummy symbol, then whisked himself up and out of the cavern breaking an escape route through the heavy rock of the ceiling.

* * *

"I don't sense Dark Heart." True heart said to Noble nervously as they paced down the stone hallway, a small lantern they had created illuminating the rough walls.

"I did just a minute ago, he's probably hiding, come on." Noble Heat urged, and the two hurried down the corridor. Swiftly they searched each side passage they came to, all leading to dead ends or empty rooms. As True heart lifted the light, peering into the next off shoot they reached the light reflecting off all the water on the walls momentarily blinded her.

Coming up alongside Noble Heart was the first to take a good look around, exclaiming "Pure!" when his eyes fell on the beaten form of the cub. He rushed forward, terrified at the sight of their young charge. The black cub was covered in blood, though he couldn't see anything other than small cuts on her, and one of her arms lay at an impossible angle, swelled up far past normal size.

"Oh no!" True Heart cried as she raced over with the light. In the soft light Pure Heart looked like she was sleeping quietly, but Noble heart felt uneasy and looked closer.

"I don't think she's breathing…" his voice was wracked with pain as he gently touched the broken shoulder.

"Look! Her tummy symbols gone." True Heart pointed out, voice full of grief to see one of the cubs like this.

"Dark Heart must have done this!" Noble growled with conviction.

"Where is he?" True heart suddenly snapped out of the shock of seeing Pure Hearts body lying broken and bruised, remembering that they could be in danger. Both she and Noble heart looked around for the cause of their troubles.

"He must have escaped through there!" Noble pointed up to the hole in the shadowy ceiling. Night was setting in, and the patch was only slightly lighter in color than the rest. "But where was he going?"

"The other cubs! Oh Noble heart he's gone after the other cubs!" True Heart had a sudden clear spark of thinking, cursing herself for being so stupid. "He knows we'd come racing after Pure Heart! And now that he's done with her he's gone after the others! We have to go!" The light colored bear tugged urgently at her companions arm.

"One minute." He muttered, leaning forward to grab Pure Heart. "True I can't get her free!" his voice overflowed with helplessness. "We can't just leave her here!" Hurriedly True Heart examined the cuffs that held the little cub to the stone, she didn't see any way to get her out, short of breaking the stone which they didn't have time for.

"There's nothing we can do Noble heart. We have to go." Noble heart looked at her in surprise, True heart was a brave fighter but this was totally out of character. Yet in her own mind True heart kept playing over and over the image of the 4 terrified cubs in the cloud car as Dark Heart had taken off with Pure heart. She shivered at the thought of what Dark Heart could do to the cubs frozen in fear. True looked once more at the black cub she had been fighting so hard to save, and accepted the fact that there was nothing she could do—others needed her, and Noble Heart, more.

"We have to go." She repeated, and a sorrowful Noble Heart nodded in reluctant agreement. Quickly but softly the care bear bent over and kissed Pure Heart goodbye, not even trying to hide the tears spilling from her eyes.

Noble Heart reluctantly let go of the small paw he had been holding, getting a look of determination on his face. "One second." He told True Heart. The horse screwed up his face in concentration, and his stomach began to glow. Slowly a duplicate of Pure Heart's tummy symbol appeared in the air before him. The flawless crystal heart floated in the air, glowing for a moment, before settling into place on the cubs' empty stomach.

"I'm sorry that this is all I can do." He apologized, gently stroking the cubs tilted head. Then without another word Noble Heart raced out of the cavern, True Heart right on his heels. As they left the cavern returned to its gloomy state, the moon rising outside casting only a pale silver light in through Dark Hearts escape hole

* * *

A/N: Ok, another chapter up, hope you liked it. Thanks to Fauna Greywolf for being my only review last chapter, and for the 18 of you who read and DIDN'T review, shame on you! Hopefully I can finish this before I leave for the summer, and reviews would definitly help with that. Hint Hint. 


	5. Our First Stare and Call

**Ch. 5: Our First Stare and Cal**l

So now you think you know what it was that made the care bear family rise up against dark heart, the loss of one of our own. Well in a way losing Pure Heart did strengthen us, but now I have to tell you that it was what happened to me that really changed our family.

"Lost Heart do you want to play?"

"No," replied the leopard care bear without even taking his eyes from the window. "I'm waiting for Pure Heart to come back. She promised to help me finish our puzzle today." Funshine bear stared sadly at Lost Heart for a moment, then silently turned around with the board game he was holding to find another playmate.

Immune to the noise and bustle of the others cubs Lost Heart maintained his vigil at the window, perched on top of one of the cloud chairs with his paws on the window sill. _Any minute now they'll be back._ The leopard cub thought to himself, eyes searching the empty blue sky with scared hope.

* * *

Whipping his way towards care-a-lot, Dark Heart's tornado form blew cold winds and dark clouds before him. _Here I come little fuzzy ones, _he cackled to himself. The poofy white clouds suddenly broke open before him, revealing the dazzling array of rainbow colored objects that made up the care bears home. Somehow Dark Heart managed to grin without a mouth, approaching the edge where the billowy clouds became solid and snapping out of his tornado form. In its place he took shape as a red-scaled raptor with metallic claws that Dark Heart flexed eagerly to admire their sharpness. "Now," came a hiss from the dinosaurs' throat, "Time to instill a little respect into these caring creatures." Swiftly and silently he bounded towards care-a-lot and the unsuspecting cubs.

* * *

Immersed in his own lonely world Lost Heart Leopard only just caught the flash of red from the corner of his eye. The tan cub barely had time to blink, trying to see clearly, as Dark Heart raced up to the doors of the hall of hearts, smashing them open with a clawed hind foot and screeching from his dinosaur throat. 

Chaos erupted in the hall, the shocked care bear cubs and cousins all reacting to the intruder. Several cubs had gotten knocked to the floor when he had smashed the door open and their thin cries echoed through the large hall. Any games were forgotten, the players staring openmouthed in fear at Dark Heart. But while most of the youngsters could only stare in shock at the fearful intruder Lost Heart Leopard felt a heat growing within him.

"Where's Pure Heart!" growled the cousin, jumping down from his perch at the windowsill. "What have you done with my friend?!" Dark Heart was momentarily taken aback by this show of retaliation; it had never crossed his mind that the cubs would not be afraid of him. But the monsters surprise vanished quickly while the leopard glared at him, an angry mask on his face.

"Ahh…" rumbled the invader. "You want to know where your little friend is do you?" Dark Heart swaggered in a few steps, the shocked cubs frozen by the sight of him. Smirking, rejoicing in the fear the others had of him Dark Heart straightened to his full height and continued, "Well I believe she won't be coming back now."

For just a split moment Lost Heart was frozen in space and time, he couldn't breath, couldn't see, couldn't think. Then time resumed and the cub gasped out, "What did you say?"

Grinning again Dark Heart took one more step toward the cub so that he was only a few feet away, then lowered his head to whisper into the care bear cousins ear. "She won't EVER be coming back. Would you like to see?" With that the chain around Dark Hearts neck began to glow, and cast a hologram into the air before Lost Heart. The picture showed Pure Heart as she had been left, broken and hurt on the cold stone of Dark Hearts cave." The leopard cub lost all reason, his vision went red and he jumped at the raptor, batting furiously with paws that could do no damage to the scaled beast before him. Scoffing, Dark Heart knocked him away with a sharp claw, sending the cub to a heap on the floor with a nick out of his ear.

"Lost Heart!" Brave Heart lion roared, leaping forward to help his playmate. "Take this!" growled the baby lion, and a faint version of a call shot from his tummy symbol, making Dark Heart flinch with pain.

"Come on everyone, help!" Tender heart bear shouted to the others, racing across the polished floor to stand beside Brave Heart and shooting off his own stare. Ever since True Heart and Noble Heart had discovered this one power that could hurt Dark Heart they had practiced and perfected it—and in turn the nosy cubs spying around had learned too. Now their secret practices and games were being tested as the cubs and cousins answered Tender Hearts cry for help. The stares and calls may have been weak from what they would be one day, but the attack irritated Dark Heart enough to drive him out the door, grimacing from the pain.

Excited the young dwellers of care-a-lot followed him out, still shooting light from their stomach. For almost a minute Dark Heart tried to bat away the light attacks while the cubs yelled at him. "Stay away from us!" "This is our home, go away!" "You won't get any more or us!" "Get out of here!" The cries rang out from dozens of young throats, and unable to take the beating any more Dark Heart snapped back into tornado form.

"I'll be back Care bears!" he roared in anger, turning to go. But just as the red cloud lifted up, the stares and calls began to falter. Exhausted cubs fell to sit panting on the ground, unused to using their power so strongly for so long. Within seconds only a few scattered attacks sill shot towards Dark Heart, and even those began to flicker as the cubs and cousins producing them tired. "Well, well," chuckled Dark Heart. "Maybe I won't leave just yet."

"Oh yes you will!" Lost Heart Leopard appeared from the hall of hearts. "You will pay for what you did to my best friend!" Growling so fiercely that the others felt the vibrations in the air the tan leopard sped toward Dark Heart and unleashed his power into the red tornado. But unlike the pure crystal colors of the other cubs attacks, Lost Heart's symbol shot forth a black light, highlighting the red fury in his unfocused eyes.

So absorbed in memories was Lost Heart that he didn't even notice the difference in his attack from what he had learned with the other cubs. All he could see was Pure Heart—could see her helping him to his feet when he fell and scraped a knee, finding and giving him a hug when he had been alone and crying, Pure Heart turning around to smile and wait just for him while the other cubs raced off to explore their new home of care-a-lot. Pure Heart, Pure Heart, Pure Heart, the image of his closest friend kept playing over and over again in his mind so that he couldn't even see the real world around him.

The leopard didn't even notice Dark Heart screaming in real pain, or his family staring in scared amazement at him. Lost Heart's attack was doing what none of the other cubs' had, actually hurting Dark Heart because of the anger mixed in with it. Under the blaze of Lost Heart's tummy symbol Dark Heart relived all the pain he had inflicted onto his victims, and as the attack continued he began to feel a new emotion—fear. Though the normal calls and stares had stung him, they had never inflicted such pain before. If the care bears could actually hurt him like this there was nothing to stop them from torturing him as he had done to Pure Heart and others on earth.

"True Heart! Noble Heart!" one of the cubs shouted, and sure enough the founders of the care bear family appeared, racing through the sky towards care-a-lot. With a final roar of pain Dark Heart sent a gust of wind as Lost Heart that knocked the cub off his feet and broke the attack.

"I'll be back!" hissed the red tornado, before spinning off through the clouds. Still in shock the rainbow mass of cubs watched him leave, fear in the eyes of all but one. Lost Heart leopard sat panting on the clouds where he had fallen, green eyes full of anger following the retreating cloud of dust.

* * *

A/N: Sorry this last chapter took so long guys. But I"m back from summer camp now so the rest of this story should come in fairly quickly. Keep those reviews coming we've only got one or two more chapters left! 


	6. Our Beginning

**Ch. 6- Our Beginning**

_True Heart didn't know it when she named me Lost how well the name would fit me later. I was lost in such a big family, lost without my best friend, and a lost cause to the care bears fight for caring after that battle with Dark Heart._

"True Heart it isn't like this is a new idea…we just weren't planning on doing it so soon."

"I know Noble Heart….I just wish we didn't have to." True Hearts voice was quiet and sad, Noble Heart slid a comforting arm around her shoulders. Neither of them spoke about _why _they needed to seperate the cubs, the potential of their family being destroyed had deeply scarred them this day.

"I wish we didn't have to separate them either but they're strong, we saw that today. They'll be ok." The purple horse seemed to be reassuring himself with that last sentence, glancing around the room. He and True Heart sat on a cloud couch near the heart shaped door, the cubs scattered on the floor before them. The two of them had spent the hours after Dark Hearts attack comforting the terrified cubs, though they were in shock themselves. Like the great parents they were Noble Heart and True Heart put the babies first, cuddling those that needed a hug, wiping noses runny from crying and humming lullabies to put the toddlers to sleep. All had been too upset to lay alone in their beds, so their guardians had relented and now the cubs and cousins were scattered on the soft cloud floor in small groups under their blankets. Feeling safer near their friends the youngsters had finally fallen asleep.

All except Lost Heart. The young leopard lay curled on the couch next to True Heart, green eyes staring blankly into empty space while his paws clutched the light blue blanket covering him. True Heart and Noble Heart didn't know what to do with him. After the fight with Dark Heart Noble Heart had pulled the leopard cub aside while True herded the rest of the family into the Hall of Hearts.

"I already know what happened to her," the cub had stated before the horse had even opened his mouth. Taken aback Noble Heart had frozen, one paw on the cubs shoulder where he had put it to steady Lost Heart from the painful news he had to tell him. The tan cub continued, "Dark Heart showed me, he showed us all what he did to her." There was a small pause, then without emotion Lost asked, "Was it cold in there? Pure never liked being cold."

It took Noble Heart a few seconds before he could think of a reply, so shocked was he by Lost Hearts disconnected attitude. "No," the horse lied to his charge. "The fire kept her warm, she wasn't cold."

"Good." With that Lost Heart gently slid out from Noble hearts paw and followed the rest of the cubs up to the hall.

Now, hours later, the care bear cousin hadn't uttered another sound—not even to cry. He just lay next to his guardians, eyes open but not caring enough to listen to their conversation. Occasionally True Heart rubbed his head comfortingly with a cream colored paw, but Lost Heart didn't even blink at her touch.

She sighed, sadly resuming the conversation between her and Noble Heart. "We'll start looking tomorrow morning then? And take them all with us?"

"Yes," he replied, voice breaking with fatigue. "It's not safe to stay here now that Dark Heart knows about this place. How he found it in the first place I don't know."

"He's been watching us Noble Heart. It wasn't just a coincidence that he ran into me and the cubs at that park. He must just have been watching and waiting for an opportunity to do this." Silent tears rolled down True Hearts cheeks, tears of anger that she had let this happen in the first place, and tears of sorrow for the loss of one of her beloved cubs.

"Well," Noble Heart struggled to get the words out, ashamed of idea turning over and over in his mind. "We just won't be able to visit earth anymore."

"What?!?!" True looked at her friend in shock. Not go on caring missions? Wasn't that their only purpose?

"Only until the cubs are grown up," Noble quickly explained. "And from the way things are going that won't even take until the end of summer. Until then it just isn't safe. If we split them up there will only be one of us to look after them, and I don't feel safe leaving them all alone." Noble Heart scanned the room with dark eyes, confirming to himself as he had been doing every minute since their return, that the other cubs were still whole and safe.

* * *

"Is that it?" 

"I think so…"

"Let me see!" Down in the hold of the cloud ship the care bear cousins crowded near the windows, peering out at the place that would be their new home. The colorful trees of the Forest of Feelings greeted them, leaves waving gently in the warm breeze.

"Wow! It's beautiful!" Gentle Heart Lamb gasped in awe. The cousins next to her nodded in agreement. Sunlight suddenly filtered down into the ships hold and Noble Heart poked his head through the door.

"Who wants to come out and take a look around?" He asked, laughing and jumping backwards as a small stampede rushed up the stairs. Eagerly the rainbow mass of youngsters surged off the ship, barely listening as True Heart cautioned them to stay close to the ship.

"Are we doing the right thing Noble Heart?" She asked once more as her partner came to stand by her. The purple horse didn't respond, instead he took her hand and silently led her down the rainbow gangplank to join the exploring cubs.

Later that night the entire family crowded around a campfire under the starry sky, all the cubs listening intently to Noble Heart as he told them the classic story of Mowgli in the Jungle Book. True Heart watched through misty eyes as he acted out the story for them, imitating the voices and doing such a convincing Shere Khan roar that many of the more timid cubs jumped in excited fright.

_This may be the last time we're all together, _she thought to herself. True Heart started to look away, desperate not to let the cubs see her cry. But as she looked away the cream colored bear saw something that completely chased the tears away. Used to having so many children around she hadn't even noticed that Love-a-lot and Share Bear had clambered up on the log where she and Noble sat, falling asleep with their heads in her lap. At her feet Proud Heart Cat and Noble Heart Dog were curled up side-by-side, eyes drooping sleepily. True Heart gave a gentle smile, smoothing the two heads resting on her knees lovingly. _This is my family, no matter how far or long apart we are, they always will be._

Proudly the bear looked around at the young care bear cubs and cousins, their faces happy as they sat, surrounded by friends, listening to the story. _They will be fine,_ True Heart suddenly realized what Noble Heart had grasped long ago, _and when they're all grown up we'll be able to undo all the wrong that Dark Heart is putting into this world._ With that comforting thought True Heart pulled the two girl cubs closer to her, rocking them gently as Noble Heart finished the story and the fire slowly burned to glowing embers.

* * *

"Lost, are you ok?" 

"Huh?" Lost Heart looked over in surprise Brave Heart lion, who was lying next to him, he hadn't realized anyone knew he was still awake. "I was just…." The leopard cubs voice dragged off, he wasn't sure what to tell Brave Heart. All the cubs and cousins treated each other like family, but Lost Heart didn't trust easily and Pure Heart was the only one he had ever told his secret thoughts to. At the thought of the black cub the leopards' eyes filled with tears and he found himself whispering to Brave Heart, "I miss her."

"Me too," the lion cub agreed, sitting up and scooting closer to Lost Heart to comfort him. For a few moments the two just lay in silence, staring up at the stars. They sat on the deck of the ship with the other cubs and cousins, no one wanted to be separated on their last night together. Below them Noble Heart and True Heart sat around the dying embers of the fire, their muffled voices drifting up to the deck; the murmurs comforted the pair, safety and protection weren't far away.

"I can't sleep guys," Tender Heart surprised the two cats as he crept over, dragging his blanket over the deck. Obligingly they scooted over to make room for him, and all three sat against the edge of the deck, staring silently at the star spread sky. Love-a-lot bear came over next, her pink arms engulfing all of them in a hug before she sat down next to Tender heart. One by one other awake cubs and cousins trickled over, all silent and thinking about the turn their lives were about to take.

"I'm going to miss you guys," Friend bear finally broke the silence, staring glumly at the twin flowers of his tummy symbol. The others nodded in agreement, many leaning against each other in half hugs.

"But we'll see each other again when we start caring missions," Cozy Heart penguin chimed up.

"Yeah," Wish bear agreed, her aqua fur hiding her in the gloom of the night, "and it won't be long before then."

"I'm not going on any caring missions." Lost Heart shocked the others into silence with his statement. "I can't."

"Why not?" Tender heart asked, staring curiously at the spotted cub.

Lost Heart scuffed his feet on the deck for a moment, and then whispered uncertainly, "I'm scared to." The others looked at him, confused. "What if I hurt someone again like I did Dark Heart? What if I get mad and lose it?" The leopard continued, voice shaking a bit as he fought back tears. "I don't _ever_ want to hurt anyone…I can't believe I did it the first time," his voice drifted softly through the still night air. Tenderheart and Brave Heart looked worriedly at each other.

"But if you feel so bad about it what makes you think you'll hurt someone again?" Brave Heart asked.

"Because whenever I think about Pure, all I want to do is destroy Dark Heart," Losts voice was a strange mixture of anger and loss, the tears falling from his eyes contrasted by the angry set of his jaw. "He hurt my best friend, AND FOR NO REASON!" Trembling the leopard cub swallowed and took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

Tender hearts face grew sad as he listened to his cousin, but with wisdom beyond his years came up with a response. "Hurting Dark Heart won't help anything, you know that Lost Heart." The tan cat nodded in agreement. "But if we can get the whole world to stand against him, by teaching them to care, then he'll never be able to hurt anyone again. That's why we have to go on caring missions, to help people protect themselves from Dark Heart."

"I know, and that's why I can't go." Lost Heart continued, green eyes watching the cool stars. "If I lose it and try to hurt Dark Heart there's a chance that I might undo all that work about teaching caring. And I do want the world to be a better place, I just don't think I'm the one to do it."

"Of course you are! But you don't necessarily have to go on missions to help though." Grumpy bear said uncharacteristically. "You can help Earth by helping us, reminding us why we're fighting so hard to stop Dark Heart." The leopard cub and all the other care bears looked in surprise at the blue bear.

"Grumpy's right you know." Tender heart said. "And if you don't want to go on missions that's fine, everyone has their own strengths. We'll still be your friends."

"Thank you." Lost Heart said simply, a small smile on his face.

Once again the care bear cubs and cousins were silent, staring at the stars in the sky. Through the night they sat vigil at one another's side, friends falling asleep on one anothers shoulders. And when the night grew cooler those still awake tucked the soft blankets around their adopted family members before falling asleep beside them. So that was how True Heart and Noble Heart found their charges when they returned to the ship; fast asleep—and together as one family.

_So that's how it ends…well pretty much. Throughout the rest of that summer as we grew up Noble Heart tried to change my mind about going on caring missions, but finally he gave up. As he taught the other cousins about spreading caring around the world I melted into the shadows of the forest of feelings. But my disappearing did more than give me the solitude I wanted, it helped give the others a purpose. Not wanting anyone to be hurt by Dark Heart as I had been they swore to fight him, and their mission became to have the entire world learn to care. As Tender heart said to them all when the family was finally reunited, "Even as one family we may not be strong enough to beat him, but if the whole world apposes Dark Heart there's no way he can spread evil anymore. That's why we care."  
_

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A/N- So that's it! Another story done, sorry about the lag in the last chapter, but I didn't get any reviews so I didn't figure it was worth taking time away from school work (That's a hint to review people!) So please review, even if it's just one word, like good, bad, or ok. I just want to know people actually read the chapter, I put a lot of thought and work into it. Really hope it was worth it!  



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